


wynken, blynken, and nod

by thegroovygatsby



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kevin Is Insecure About His Role In The Relationship, M/M, Pet Names, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:26:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegroovygatsby/pseuds/thegroovygatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Domestic Carlos/Cecil/Kevin. Carlos is the kind of nerd who watches old terrible sci-fi movies, Cecil is the kind of nerd who is actually scared by them, and Kevin, as it turns out, is sometimes unsure of himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wynken, blynken, and nod

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rehearsal_Dweller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/gifts).



Carlos stuck his head into the bedroom where Cecil and Kevin were lying together. Kevin was writing, the covers pooled around his waist and a small pot of ink and a brush at his side; Cecil seemed to be dozing next to him, lying on top of the covers with his limbs askew.

“I’m home, guys,” Carlos said, grinning. Kevin looked up from his book and smiled in return—although Kevin was always smiling.

“How was work?” Kevin asked, taking off his reading glasses.

Carlos made a face, stepping fully into the doorway and leaning against the frame. “The symbiotic entity tried to latch onto one of my team members. She’s fine now, but it got this gross black goop all over the lab, and it was a total pain in the neck to clean up.”

Kevin tilted his head. “I’m sorry. Sounds rough.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t fun…” Carlos nodded towards Cecil. “He asleep?”

Cecil mumbled something unintelligible into the pillow.

Kevin’s expression softened and he brushed a hand through Cecil’s hair.

“He’s had a long day,” Kevin said. “Apparently Station Management’s really been pushing.”

Carlos walked over to the bed and sat down next to Cecil. “Poor Ceec,” he said, rubbing Cecil’s back gently. Cecil just groaned in response, and Carlos smiled fondly.

Kevin cleared his throat. Carlos laughed and leaned over to give Kevin a peck on the lips.

“I had a long day, too,” Kevin said once they broke apart. “But you don’t see _me_ complaining. Oh no. In fact I’m trying to catch up on some work for tomorrow. _Some_ of us think it’s easier to write their editorials ahead of time instead of an hour before the show,” he said, rolling up his papers and swatting Cecil’s butt. Cecil kicked one of his feet, missing Kevin by a long shot and making Carlos laugh again.

“There’s dinner on the table if you want,” Kevin said, “We left you a plate.” Carlos opened his mouth to ask a question, but Kevin answered before the words could pass his lips. “Cecil made it, don’t look so worried. I wouldn’t waste my effort on making dinner for you, anyway; you just don’t appreciate good old-fashioned home cooking,” Kevin winked.

Carlos kissed him again. “Maybe one day I’ll come around. Until then, Cecil’s cooking will do fine.”

“Mm. You don’t know what you’re missing,” Kevin said. Carlos just shook his head and stood up, knuckling Cecil’s spine as he did so.

“I think I’m just gonna watch TV for a while,” he said, pausing in the doorway.

“That’s fine,” Kevin waved him off, glasses back on his face, eyes on his book.

 

Carlos had been so engrossed in _Robot Monster_ that he didn’t even hear the footsteps padding towards him, so when Cecil stopped next to the couch and said, “Can I watch with you?” he almost jumped out of his skin.

“Sure, Cecil,” Carlos said, pressing a hand to his chest and willing his heart to slow down.

Cecil, half-asleep, plunked himself down between Carlos’ extended legs, resting his back against Carlos’s chest.

“Wait, wait, Cecil,” Carlos laughed, pushing at Cecil’s back, “You’re too tall, _corazón._ I can’t see anything. Switch spots with me.” 

Cecil mumbled something that Carlos didn’t catch and drew himself to his feet, swaying gently. Carlos stood up quickly— _too_ quickly, he thought with a wince as the blood rushed to his head—and put a hand on Cecil’s back, guiding him once more onto the couch.

“There,” he said, once they had gotten comfortable and he had pulled a blanket over them, “Much better, no?”

Cecil nodded blankly, staring at the TV screen. “What are you watching?” he asked, voice still hoarse with sleep.

 _“Robot Monster,”_ Carlos said, “Is Kevin still working?”

Cecil nodded again. “Is it scary?”

“What, the movie? No, not at all. It’s really old. The effects are pretty bad, actually. It’s one of my favorites.”

Cecil pulled the blanket higher and made a non-committal hmm noise.

“And _Attack of the Giant Leeches_ is on afterwards, that one’s good too…well, not _good,_ it’s terrible. But I still like it.”

“It _sounds_ scary.”

“Well, it’s not, I promise.”

Cecil didn’t respond, so Carlos took that as an agreement and turned his focus back to the movie. Unfortunately, the combined warmth of Cecil against him and the blanket on top of him, along with the gentle flickering of the TV screen, worked together to ensure that within fifteen minutes Carlos was snoring.

 

When Carlos started awake, the room was still dark.

“Cecil?” he whispered, trying to gauge where he was. The TV was still on, but there was nothing playing, just static and white noise like a low cloud of fog in the room. There was movement behind him, and Carlos reached back, confused. He touched a trembling Cecil, who flinched at the contact and kicked out, knocking Carlos off the edge of the couch.

“Whoa! Cecil! What’s wrong?” Carlos shot to his feet.

“Sorry,” Cecil gasped, chest heaving, “T—thought you were a monster.”

“Wha—Cecil. Did you stay up all night watching scary movies?”

“You said they weren’t scary!”

“They’re not scary to _me!”_ Carlos frowned. “Ceec, if you were really frightened by it, why didn’t you just turn off the TV?”

“You just looked so peaceful,” Cecil moaned. “And I was too scared to get up.”

Carlos sighed. “C’mere.” He sat down on the couch again and pulled Cecil to him, resting his chin on Cecil’s shoulder. He rubbed circles on Cecil’s back until Cecil had stopped trembling and had begun to breathe evenly.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Carlos said, standing up. “You have work later. And Kevin was right; don’t you have some editorials to write, too? Yeah, I thought so. Let’s go, mister.” He pulled Cecil to his feet. Cecil drew the blanket tight around himself, eyes darting around the room. When they reached the bedroom, which was dark and empty, Carlos stepped aside to let Cecil enter.

“Carlos,” Cecil said, rubbing at one widened eye, “I’m still kind of scared, can you go first?”

“Cecil, it’s fine. Kevin’s probably in the bathroom, just go in and turn on the light.”

Cecil fidgeted with the blanket around his shoulders and rolled on the balls of his feet but then seemed to gather his courage and step into the room. His hand scrabbled at the inner wall, searching for the light switch, and he flicked it up as fast as he could before turning his head—only to come face to face with Kevin.

“Rah!” Kevin grinned, lunging slightly towards Cecil. Cecil shrieked and flinched back, smacking into Carlos, who let out a yell.

“Hey, now,” Kevin said, recoiling, “It’s just me.”

Cecil made a little keening noise and turned to bury his nose in Carlos’ neck. Carlos whuffed out a breath, patting Cecil’s back.

“Kevin, _querido,_ Cecil spent the whole night watching monster movies. He’s a little jumpy.”

Kevin tilted his head to one side. He stepped forward and embraced Carlos so that Cecil was crushed between them. “That wasn’t a very good idea, Cecil, now was it?”

“No,” Cecil said, muffled by the two bodies around him.

Kevin nuzzled into the nape of his neck.

“Mmn,” Cecil mumbled.

“Let’s go to bed, ok?” Kevin said, squeezing him once before pulling away and waiting for Cecil to follow.

“Go,” Carlos kissed Cecil slowly. “I’m going to brush my teeth.”

Carlos turned and went into the bathroom. Cecil let Kevin take his hand and lead him to the bed. Kevin pulled back the sheets and waited for Cecil to get in before joining him from the other side so that they were face to face.  
The room was quiet for a few moments. The sound of the water running in the bathroom could be heard, but the door was closed and it was faint. Kevin listened to the sound of Cecil’s breathing.

“Hey,” Kevin said, all of a sudden, “Cecil?”

Cecil’s eyes opened, and he blinked once.

“You don’t,” Kevin started and then stopped. “Well. You don’t really…find me _frightening,_ do you?”

Cecil’s brows knit together. “What?” he said.

“I mean,” Kevin fidgeted a little, making the sheets rustle, but didn’t complete the thought.

“Kevin,” Cecil yawned. “What is it?”

Kevin reached out to run a hand over Cecil’s hip and scooted in closer, shimmying down a bit so he could listen to Cecil’s heartbeat under the covers.

“It’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not,” Cecil said. “Tell me.”

“Well…you and Carlos—you don’t think I’m a _monster_ or anything, do you?”

There was a beat of silence. The toilet flushed in the bathroom.

Cecil pushed his face into Kevin’s hair. “No. Kevin, no, of course not, of course we don’t.”

“It’s just,” Kevin said against Cecil’s chest, “I scared you before, and, well, you used to hate me, and I know I’m _different_ from you and Carlos—”

“What about me?” Carlos said, sliding into the bed behind Kevin. He leaned in to kiss Cecil and threw his arm across both Cecil and Kevin’s bodies, pressing himself against Kevin’s back. Kevin sighed.

“I’m not like you,” he said.

Carlos pushed himself up on one elbow, and Kevin curled tighter against Cecil’s chest. “No,” Carlos said, “you’re not.”

“And you two love each other a lot.”

“Yes,” Carlos said, “we do.”

“Well, you two are a perfect couple, and sometimes I wonder why you keep me around,” Kevin said, staring at the sheets.

Carlos shared a glance with Cecil.

“Kevin, it’s true, you’re not like us,” Carlos said quietly after a moment, lying down again. “You’re very, very different. And it took us a while to adjust to that. But the fact remains, _querido,_ Cecil and I, we both love you…very much.” He kissed Kevin’s back. Cecil kissed Kevin’s head.

Kevin didn’t say anything, but after a few minutes his shoulders relaxed and he reached back to twine the fingers of one hand with Carlos’. Soon, he and Cecil were both asleep. Carlos lay there listening to them in the dark until his body succumbed to exhaustion. When his eyes slid closed, the barest hints of sunlight had just begun to crisscross the sky, making patterns like tattoos for the clouds.


End file.
